Just the latest news from the world of Blizzard, including a small batch of Cataclysm hotfixes, veiled details about Blizzard's new MMO, tips on surviving Heroics and more!

Notable Cataclysm hotfixes include:

The search radius to find an Archaeology node from the Archaeology ability Survey has been increased. This will result in fewer searches needed while in the "green" range of surveying.

Chakra is no longer consumed by a Prayer of Mending bounce.

Several shirts have been corrected so they no longer cause a player's item level to increase. They are item level 1.

In addition, another, undocumented hotfix was recently applied which will make it so that players without an appropriate crafting profession of 425 or higher will no longer be able to 'Need' roll on Chaos Orb! This should be a welcome change for any users with the profession, however I still say that making them BOP was silly in the first place. But meh, we're probably just a few patches away from a change on that - and by then, it won't matter.

A hotfix was applied about an hour ago that changes it so Chaos Orbs will only be available for Need rolls by characters with Tailoring, Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, and Engineering (minimum skill of 425 required). This fix may not appear until the next time realms are restarted, which is likely to be early tomorrow morning.

Check out the full post for all the latest hotfixes, blue posts and more!

Cataclysm Hotfixes - December 20

General

Paid services now allow characters level 81 or higher to be transferred with up to 50,000 gold.

Several Winter's Veil decorations and NPCs have been checked for proper placement.

Silverbound Treasure Chests can now be opened and looted correctly.

Classes

Hunter

Cobra Shot is no longer refreshing the duration of the Wyvern Sting damage-over-time effect. Cobra Shot is correctly extending the damage-over-time effect applied by Serpent Sting.

Mages

Conjuring refreshments no longer count toward achievements like Set the Oven to "Cataclysmic" and Time To Open A Restaurant.

Impact is no longer applying damage-over-time effects to enemy targets who are not within line-of-sight of the original target. A target in line-of-sight with the original target is still affected appropriately, even if they are not in sight of the mage.

Priests

The range of the heal on Atonement has been increased to 15 yards. It has been verified to be working correctly for the priest and party/raid members.

Chakra is no longer consumed by a Prayer of Mending bounce.

Guardian Spirit's capped value did not rise properly from level 80-85. This has been corrected.

Dungeons & Raids

Lava Surgers present in several dungeons now have loot and can be mined.

Bastion of Twilight

Cho'gall's Worshipping effect can now correctly be interrupted with stuns and other interrupt abilities.

Valiona will now prioritize taking flight and interrupt Devouring Flames if it's cast during a transition.

Blackrock Caverns

Bellows Slaves no longer grant reputation.

Blackwing Descent

Lava Parasites will no longer cause the Magmaw encounter to reset if they Evade. In addition, their mounting range has been reduced to 5 yards and they can fail to mount when attacking players.

Grim Batol

Quests for Grim Batol are now appropriately flagged as dungeon quests.

Halls of Origination

Players are now able to zone into the dungeon if Anraphet is in combat.

Lost City of the Tol'vir

The Lockmaw encounter no longer resets if a Frenzied Crocolisk Evades.

Players are now able to zone into the dungeon if General Hussam is in combat.

The Stonecore

Ozruk's Paralyze ability is not supposed to critically hit and has been fixed.

Items

The buff from Corrupted Egg Shell will no longer absorb more than its intended amount.

Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade is no longer showing as available for purchase by any class but death knights.

Several shirts have been corrected so they no longer cause a player's item level to increase. They are item level 1.

Professions

The search radius to find an Archaeology node from the Archaeology ability Survey has been increased. This will result in fewer searches needed while in the "green" range of surveying.

The Alchemy specialization Elixir Master was granting extra potion procs instead of Potion Master when used on Cataclysm level recipes. The potions found to be causing this have been fixed.

Both Willful Ember Topaz and Lucent Ember Topaz no longer award skill past 515 Jewelcrafting skill. The designs still show as grey in the Profession window, but no longer award skill up to 525.

Several cooking recipes were not counting toward the achievement Set the Oven to "Cataclysmic" and have been updated. Note that Darkbrew Lager, Highland Spirits, and Chocolate Cookie are not intended to count for this achievement.

The return portal from Tol Barad now takes players to the appropriate capital city near the portal to Tol Barad.

Quests & Creatures

Shy Highlands Turkeys in Twilight Highlands are now coming out to play for achievements.

Heroics Too Hard? Blizzard Poster Offers Tips

Here's my protip - move out of the fire. Seriously. I've been doing Heroics just like the rest of you and I've found that while some fights are a bit overtuned for players just starting Heroics, most of the fights are balanced, unforgiving, and pretty damn good. I just got out of a Heroic not very long ago in which we wiped on the first boss and the party's mage (which was a guild group from another server) immediately cursed me out for being a terrible healer until I pointed out the fact that the tank died because he stood in things he shouldn't have (lots of them, even).

Of course, many players still believe that Heroics are way too hard and have taken to expressing these feelings on the official forums. Today, Blizzard poster Lylirra replied to an irate player with some excellent tips that I thought would be of value to some players out there!

HEROICS ARE HARD!

They can be, sure, but I encourage you to stick with them!

With time, practice, and gear, players should find that they can survive a bit longer each pull, do more damage, and react quicker to important stimuli (like Corborus' shards). That said, even as players improve, they may not always one-shot the bosses, and that's okay. Heroic dungeons are meant to be challenging, particularly during this initial stage of learning.

i just wanna get some tips.

In many cases, in order for a Heroic dungeons group to be successful, everyone will need to work together. So, my best piece of advice to any player -- and one that I always try to follow myself -- is to consistently bring your A-game. "A-game" is really just a catchy buzzword that means "pull your own weight when and wherever possible" and, to a smaller degree, “always have fun!” Even if you’re just looking for one item, entering dungeons with the right attitude and outlook can make a huge difference.

Here are just a few thoughts you may want to consider:

If you're having trouble adapting to a fight's mechanics, ask for help: talk to a guild mate who's more familiar with the fight or refer to online material. We all process information differently and you may find that you're able to understand your role in a boss fight better by reading, or by having a discussion with a friend.

Try to do all that you can to optimize your gear. Even if you don't have a lot of time to play, you're still very empowered and can do a lot to increase your character's potency. For example, you might consider enchanting and gemming your Superior gear, reforging, or purchasing 333 - 359 iLevel items from reputation quartermasters. While quest greens and PvP gear may be functional, if you can replace those slots with PvE blues or purples that are tailored to your role, you'll probably be in a better position overall.

Don't write off normal dungeons completely. Even if you're eligible for Heroic dungeons, getting practice on tamer versions of various bosses can be invaluable. It can help increase your comfort level with the encounter, as well as your knowledge of the mechanics.

This is just the tip of iceberg, of course, but hopefully it can provide some inspiration for how to keep the ball rolling.

all i want is to get that stupid sword, i dont wanna spend 20000 hours playing just to get geared for heroics to grab a stupid sword that im going to pvp with for a week. like wtf

Let’s reverse roles for a bit. I love running Heroic dungeons, but I also like to PvP. I want to be able to purchase a strong PvP weapon, but I don’t yet have the Conquest points to do so. As a result, I’ll need to participate in Rated Battlegrounds and/or Arena matches. Even if I just want one weapon, to get there, I’d need to get a respectable amount of lower-tier PvP gear, brush up on my tactics, and play the battles to earn it. The PvE game is much the same way.

Just like in real life, the gameplay world often involves choices, and you seem to be faced with one here. If you want the sword in question, you can invest in Heroic dungeons and their respective challenges; however, if that’s not an ideal situation for you, then you can always explore alternative weapon options. That's a decision only you can make, though. :)

(Have you checked out Hellscream's Reach, by chance?)

Blizzard's Next MMO Project Confirmed

Last week at the Spike Video Game Awards 2010, Destructoid talked with Blizzard's vice president Frank Pearce about the World of Warcraft movie, the upcoming Starcraft II expansion and (most importantly) Project "Titan." Many of you may recall a few weeks ago when Blizzard's project schedule was leaked, detailing timeframes for future WoW expansions and more. While none of the details on this document were ever truly confirmed, it's pretty awesome to find out that Blizzard's next-gen MMO is indeed in the works! Check out the interview for full details (and all that is available right now on the project, sadly).

Starcraft II Demo Now Available

Blizzard has now made available a demo version of their popular Starcraft II game! If you've never played a Starcraft game before, now's your chance! :)

If you haven’t yet experienced the intense strategic combat of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, you can get into the action today with the newly released demo edition. Featuring full access to the first three missions of the single-player campaign, as well as unlimited access to skirmish mode as the terrans versus an A.I. opponent, the free demo gives you an introduction to the cinematic storytelling and fast-paced gameplay of StarCraft II.

Begin your demo experience here. You don’t need a Battle.net account or Internet connection to play once you’ve downloaded the demo, but you will need both if you are ready to upgrade to the full version of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. For more information on the demo, read the FAQ.

Comment by TehFacroller2000

Comment by Katatsuki

Stone Bats in Deepholm are no longer skinnable... and it's not even listed!

Nice ninjanerfing blizzard =.=

Comment by beverice

on 2010-12-21T20:46:39-06:00

O_otitan = real, then that sheet has a more possibility to be real! pretty cool

Comment by gseven

on 2010-12-22T06:48:49-06:00

BAH! SC2 storyline spoilers! Cannot be unheard!

Comment by Valknyte

on 2010-12-22T07:30:25-06:00

BAH! SC2 storyline spoilers! Cannot be unheard!

You're joking lol. It's been out for ages.

Comment by PongoBluetooth

on 2010-12-22T08:14:56-06:00

O_otitan = real, then that sheet has a more possibility to be real! pretty cool

Nothing on that sheet is really unimaginable or unexpected though. It isn't like we saw that and we were all "oh wow we never suspected any of this!" It's basically everything we already thought was going on. None of it is really anything you should be surprised by. It all makes sense.

That said, it'll be cool to see what Titan actually is. Like, setting and theme and whatnot. Looking forward to the future.

Comment by Interest

Comment by kpsting

on 2010-12-22T10:40:06-06:00

Still no fix for Earthen Ring rep from questing in Vashj'ir... wow!

Comment by Kuipo

on 2010-12-22T16:41:52-06:00

Heroics are already pretty easy if you ask me.

Quoted for truth. I've only had a group fail a dungeon twice so far... and I'm a mage. I run with a druid tank sometimes and she had at least 20k less HP than other tanks I run randoms with and she survives just fine because she knows how to play. If I run a dungeon with her, we finish the instance EVERY TIME.

Do the heroics offer a bit of a challenge? Yes. And that's good. I've been saying for years now that they need 5man raids... heroics can almost fill that slot now that some of them have 7 bosses and can take a long time. The thing that raids really bring however is challenge. If raids were faceroll material, then they wouldn't be nearly as fun.

Comment by Greenfist

on 2010-12-23T13:52:33-06:00

Good job blizz for sticking to your guns on the difficulty of heroics. We don't need a bunch of p#$&!es ruining the challenge. =)

Comment by echonn123

on 2010-12-24T05:14:14-06:00

The difficulty has zero to do with heroics. The real question is this: Will players continue to pay the monthly fee if they spend months in heroics trying to gear. Only time will tell. All the people who wanted difficulty got it. The real issue is whether all those people who didn't want harder content will stick around and that is the core issue. Hell, I would tell every person unhappy with content to save their cash... grab Minecraft.. and go have fun playing that. But that's me... it's essentially what I've done. I find the content overtuned... I refuse to pay for content I need to "grind" so Blizzard lost my dollar... I'm sure I'm not alone... it's just a matter of time.

normal dungeons are normal. Hard dungeons are hard bra. Sorry your a baddie =/. Besides people keep looking at this expansion like it was all about the end game. I dont know about anyone else, but im pretty pumped to put another one of my alts through the beautiful underwater world of Vashjir and the breathtaking landscapes of Uldum. Not to mention there is a whole quest line where you are in an indiana jones movie...

Comment by kramgo

on 2010-12-25T03:11:45-06:00

normal dungeons are normal. Hard dungeons are hard

Yes, yes, omgyes! It's just like it's supposed to be! Gonna take this quote with me and paste it whenever someone cries out over how hard heroics are...

Comment by Umega

on 2010-12-25T04:35:29-06:00

Chaos Orbs are bop? Ugh no wonder I can't find any on the AH. -.-

Comment by Zlither

on 2010-12-25T05:56:24-06:00

Please don´t nerf heroics! I have been longing for challenging dungeon content ever since Shadow Labs HC =) Lich King Heroics where boring imo and everyone had such a hurry! When my warlock first dinged 80 i joined a pug and cleared Naxxramas on the first day of being 80, witch at that time was the highest tier of raid content. Now, at 85, i haven´t even considered raids because heroics are hard and i still need upgrades from them. Thanx Blizzard for bringing back the need of a brain in "casual" content!

Comment by Azrile

on 2010-12-25T09:31:17-06:00

Good job blizz for sticking to your guns on the difficulty of heroics. We don't need a bunch of p#$&!es ruining the challenge. =)

You are kidding right? It´s two weeks into the expansion, at this point in Wotlk, heroics were hard also. I don´t know about everyone else´s experience, but the past 2 days I´ve had nearly flawless pug heroic runs. They definitely are not as fast as Wrath heroics were a month ago, but they are also not wipe-fests either. It was only for the first week that heroics were hard.

In another months, wipes will almost never happen and we will be rushing through trash without even thinking.

In 3 months when the next tier of raids come and current valor items become jp items, we´ll be back to AOEing down trash pulls and burning down bosses without paying much attention to mechanisms.

The only difference between cata and wotlk is that there was a ´minor´ bump of a day or two when people had to get ilvl to queue for heroics and the fact that the entry level raids are harder than heroics (naxx was the same difficulty as a heroic in wotlk).

These heroics are not harder than wotlk. They are just new so you usually have at least 1 person who doesn´t know the mechanisms.. if that person is the tank or healer, it is a wipe.

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